"Peace be with you": Ahmad Badr El Din El Hassoun, a religious leader of the Sunni Muslim community, began with these words at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, invited today to give a speech as part of the European year of Intercultural Dialogue. The meeting was opened by the president of the EU Assembly, the German Hans-Gert Poettering, who stated: "The peaceful cohabitation of different cultures and religions, in Europe, in the Middle East, in the Mediterranean, is not only possible, it is necessary". To do this, dialogue must be "open, based on tolerance", which "does not mean condescension, but listening to others and respecting diversity", whilst "it is important to develop joint initiatives to reduce the distances" between such cultures. The Great Mufti of Syria explained that peace must be built "in the name of the Maker of the human being", because "we are all God’s creatures". Speaking to the MEPs, El Hassoun called them "brothers" and quoted Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, insisting on the concept that "there can be no clash of civilisations. Different cultures and religions live together in the world, but civilisation is one, it is the human one".
